Content marketing for eco-friendly brands is easy when your business is based on environmental ethics. Environmentally conscious consumers are looking for brands that support their principles and have a reduced impact on the planet whilst still offering the product they need at the prices they want. You should use your content marketing strategy to provide this information and offer solutions to your potential customers. Read on to learn content marketing tips for your eco brand.
Content Marketing Tips for Eco Brands
If you’re a new brand, you may want to first consider your target audience and do some basic keyword research. These concepts and practices are the starting point of any robust marketing campaign.
Use facts, not greenwashing
Demand for eco-friendly products and services has been rising, with consumers looking for more ethical options to reduce their environmental impact. While it’s great to see more people onboard, it has also seen a considerable rise in the number of companies using greenwashing to essentially con consumers into purchases that do not benefit the planet in any way.
Greenwashing is a frustrating issue for genuine eco-friendly brands because it erodes consumer trust and ultimately harms the planet. If you have genuine eco-friendly products to sell, your content marketing must focus on facts, not buzzwords or false narratives. As an eco-friendly brand, your content should be transparent about your goods and services in terms of ingredients or materials, production process and impact. If you don’t rate highly in one area (maybe you have some plastic packaging), writing it down allows you to identify your problem areas and put a plan in place to research and implement more sustainable options. When you explain your process to consumers, they can see your work and will trust you are on the right side of history, not greenwashing.
Understand the limitations of your audience
Whilst eco consumerism is more present today, that doesn’t mean everyone who visits your business will be an expert in environmental issues. Content for eco-friendly brands is very much focused on the educational aspect of content marketing. You should use your article, case studies and white papers to teach your readership about your products and industry. Not only will this instil trust and increase the likelihood of a purchase, but it will also teach them the information they can use when considering other goods and services in the future. For eco companies, their content needs to focus on transparency, data backed up stats and research-driven copy.
As a writer, you should never assume that your reader is familiar with concepts, glossary terms or environmental facts. Instead, you should take the time to provide detailed information in all your content marketing pieces and encourage discussion online.
Answer the questions they are asking
Of course, content marketing is an excellent opportunity to help your readers make a decision on a product. The best way to do this is to answer their questions. If you’ve done keyword research effectively, this should be your starting point for learning your FAQs. From there, you can create content that answers these questions in great detail. Question-based articles are a fantastic way to produce a lot of valuable content. Here are some types of questions about eco-friendly products that you may want to write about.
- Is [material, product, ingredient] good for the environment/planet/sustainability/vegan?
- What is the carbon footprint of [product/material/process]?
- How to reduce my plastic consumption/carbon footprint/energy usage with [product/practice]?
Each brand and niche will have different topics you can pick up, but there are truly endless ideas regarding questions about sustainability and eco-friendly shopping.
Inform, Delight and Inspire
Content marketing realistically is not different for eco-friendly brands compared to other companies. It’s all about informing, delighting or inspiring your audience. You should create content with your reader in mind; what will they get from this piece of content?
- Will they learn something about their impact or how a product choice is a better option for the planet?
- Will they find delight in a beautiful yet still practical and eco-friendly product or be entertained by your take on the best vegan gifts for Christmas?
- Will they learn something about themselves or their current practices that they want to change, inspiring them into action?
Content marketing is a powerful marketing tool with a great return on investment, but it can also be part of your responsibility as an eco brand to provide accurate and inspiring information to change the consumer landscape.
Content Marketing for eco-friendly businesses with Middleton Marketing
If you need a robust content marketing strategy for your eco-friendly brand, contact Middleton Marketing today. I offer a whole host of content and copywriting services, from one-off campaigns to ongoing monthly services. I also provide content marketing consultancy for eco-friendly and ethical brands who want to take their marketing to the next level without compromising on their principles.